Иә
“Иә” — yes in Kazakh. Particle, level A0, topic — basic words. ä is like the e in "met", but wider: iy-E. In a live sentence: “Иә, мен түсінемін” — Yes, I understand. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 303 words in the set “basic words” in the Kazakh course.
In short
| Written in Kazakh | Иә |
| Translation | yes |
| Part of speech | particle |
| Level | A0 |
- Иәyes
How to pronounce it
ä is like the e in "met", but wider: iy-E
Why it looks that way
The soft partner of zhoq, "no". In conversation the vowel is stretched — "iyaaa" — and that is not sloppiness: it signals you are being listened to.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Иә, мен түсінемінYes, I understand
Nearby words: basic words
Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.
- ЖоқnoThe same word means "there is not": su zhoq is "there is no water". It is the negative partner of bar, "there is".
- Жақсыgood, wellThe standard answer to "how are you?". One word serves as adverb and adjective alike: zhaqsy adam is "a good person".
- Жаманbad, badlyLike zhaqsy, one word for adjective and adverb: zhaman kun is "a bad day", zhaman boldy is "it went badly".
- Өте жақсыvery well"Ote" means "very" and always stands right before the word it boosts.
- ЖәнеandA bookish conjunction joining words and sentences alike. In living speech "men" often stands in its place: "agham men epkem" — brother and sister.
- БірақbutStands at the head of the second part: "bilemin, birak aitpaimyn" — I know, but I will not say. The bookish replacement is "alaida".
- Жартыhalf"Zharty keli" is half a kilo, and "zharty sagat" is half an hour: the word works with weight and with time alike.
- Тағы бірone more"Taghy" is "more", "bir" is "one". At the table this asks for a second helping: "taghy bir kese" — one more cup.
- Жетедіit is enoughFrom "zhetu", "to reach, to suffice". Literally "it will reach", that is, it will do.
- Барлығыin totalThe summing-up word: "barlyghy bes myn tenge" is "five thousand in all". The root is the same "bar" — there is, there are.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “basic words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “yes” in Kazakh?
The soft partner of zhoq, "no". In conversation the vowel is stretched — "iyaaa" — and that is not sloppiness: it signals you are being listened to.
- How do you say “half” in Kazakh?
"Zharty keli" is half a kilo, and "zharty sagat" is half an hour: the word works with weight and with time alike.
- How do you say “bad, badly” in Kazakh?
Like zhaqsy, one word for adjective and adverb: zhaman kun is "a bad day", zhaman boldy is "it went badly".
- How do you say “in total” in Kazakh?
The summing-up word: "barlyghy bes myn tenge" is "five thousand in all". The root is the same "bar" — there is, there are.
- How do you say “but” in Kazakh?
Stands at the head of the second part: "bilemin, birak aitpaimyn" — I know, but I will not say. The bookish replacement is "alaida".
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “yes” in Kazakh?
«Иә». ä is like the e in "met", but wider: iy-E. In a live sentence: “Иә, мен түсінемін” — Yes, I understand. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Particle, level A0, from the set “basic words”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The soft partner of zhoq, "no". In conversation the vowel is stretched — "iyaaa" — and that is not sloppiness: it signals you are being listened to. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.